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Health & Wellness

Creating a Healthy School Nutrition Environment

Administrative Procedure 813 - Nutrition - Outlines standards for foods and beverages that can be served and sold in schools. In addition, it promotes nutrition education in the curriculum, encourages community partnerships, and provides a supportive environment for healthy choices. It is designed to complement the efforts of other settings, including those of the home and larger community, to support healthy eating. For more information please see our board Administrative Procedure 813

The Board's food and nutrition policy is intended to increase access to and enjoyment of health promoting safe and affordable food and beverages, served and sold in our Catholic schools. The objective is to make the healthy food and beverage choice the easy choice in the school setting.

The policy contains directives including:

Food and Beverages Served and Sold in Schools

Special Functions

Promotion and Advertising

Clean Drinking Water

Use of Food as a Reinforcement

Food and Nutrition Programming

Students Who May be Vulnerable

Portion Sizes

Pricing

Food Safety

Fundraising

Nutrition Education

The food and nutrition policy for our Catholic schools recognizes that education and health go hand in hand. Children and youth need healthy foods to learn, grow, develop, and be physically active. Statistics for Ontario children, youth, and adults tell a story of poor eating habits, increasing rates of overweight and obesity, and high levels of inactivity. Left unchecked, this situation presents both short- and long-term poor health and education outcomes that begin during the school-age years and continue to adult life.

The Ministry of Education and its many partners believe that healthy eating, active living, and other health-promoting behaviours, as part of Health Promoting Schools programs, are important investments in children and youth. The food and nutrition policy for our Board is part of the larger Provincial plan for Healthy Eating and Active Living Ontario, Eatright Ontario, and Healthy Schools.

The food and beverage standards for our Catholic Schools provide criteria and suggestions for decisions about the food and beverages served and sold in schools. The standards are based on Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating and Canada's Nutrient Content Claims. The policy and standards are not intended to apply to, or to be used to evaluate, food and beverages brought for lunch or snacks from the home.

Medication:

All medication that is being taken by a child at school MUST be held at the office. This includes Tylenol, puffers, and all prescription and non prescription medications.

Allergy Alert

In keeping with the Board Policy 404 (Anaphylaxis: Reducing the Risks), the best way to provide a safe environment for all students is to continue to obtain the support of all families as we try to maintain a safe learning environment for all students.

We have students attending our school with a life-threatening allergy to peanut and nut products. Please continue preparing peanut product free for snacks and lunches

Protecting Anaphylactic Students SABRINA'S LAW - BILL 3

On January 1, 2006, legislation was enacted to protect anaphylactic students in a school setting. Anaphylaxis is a serious allergic reaction that can be life-threatening.

Food is the most common cause of anaphylaxis, but insect stings, medicine, latex, immune therapy, or exercise can also cause a reaction. Ninety percent of serious food allergy reactions are caused by peanuts, milk, egg, food additives, shellfish, fish, wheat, tree nuts, soy, and sesame.

It is the duty of each school to develop and implement a School Prevention and Management Anaphylaxis Plan that fulfils the school's obligations through information sharing; creating awareness; reducing risks; and executing emergency procedures.

Parents must inform the school about their child=s life threatening allergies; complete an Emergency Response form; and ensure their child carries an EpiPen7/TwinjetJ at all times. In addition, an additional emergency EpiPen must be provided to the school.

All staff receive anaphylaxis training on an annual basis. A brochure on Protecting Anaphylactic Students is available at the school, or on the Board web site: www.pvnccdsb.on.ca under Parents/Publications.

Public Health Departments are required by law to keep immunization records of all school-aged children. The review of immunization records is a routine process mandated by the Immunization of School Pupils Act, 1990. Under the Act, students under the age of 18 must provide proof of up-to-date immunization against: diphtheria, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, and rubella. The Act also requires Public Health Departments to issue orders to suspend children whose records are incomplete.

The school collects and forwards immunization records to the Public Health Department only at the time of initial registration to school. After registration, you are responsible to update your child's immunization record with the Public Health Department each time your child is vaccinated. As your child gets older, there are additional doses of vaccine required for them to be completely immunized for their age. Also at registration to school, the information you provided may not have included all the infant doses and booster doses, and these are required for your child's immunization record to be complete.

Your doctor does not report your child's immunizations to the Public Health Department. Your child may have received all the routine immunizations; but the Public Health Department may not have all the updated immunization information for your child. It is important that you notify the Public Health Department every time your child is immunized.

If your child has been immunized outside of Ontario or Canada, additional immunizations may be needed to meet the requirements in this Province.

If you do not wish your child to be immunized for medical, or religious, or sincerely held beliefs, you may request an exemption from the Public Health Department. Your physician or registered nurse in the extended class must complete the medical documents. A lawyer, justice of the peace, or notary public must complete the legal documents (affidavit) as required for your exemption request. To be exempted, you must return all these completed documents to the Public Health Department.

In case of an outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease, students who have not been immunized for the above reasons may be excluded from school.

Vaccinations against these diseases are free, and your family doctor should not charge you for providing updated immunization records to avoid suspension from school.

For more information, please contact your family doctor or the Public Health Department in your area. Please see the contact information listed below: